'Three or four bales a day for six weeks' - the cost of Cork's dry spell

John Welsh, Timoleague, Co Cork

“It has been a difficult year all through, we haven’t stopped feeding, we have had to keep on going. I don’t think it is going to stop either it, looks like we are going to continue and finish out the year.

“On the rest of the farm, we are struggling to keep in-calf heifers, we had to feed them for the last six weeks with silage as well. We are banking on having a reasonable third cut, live in hope that it will grow, there is no mad kick in it yet, but it is slowly coming.

“Milk price is poor, and it’s poor especially with the year that’s in it. Everything is getting scarce and dearer and costs are gone mad but please God the milk will come right too.”

Donnacha Collins, Dunmanway, Co Cork

“This year milk price has been ok for us but the fodder has been a problem all right. We have been feeding three or four bales a day, for the last six weeks, so that is eating into our forage for the winter. We will probably have to look into buying silage in the next week. Cows are on about 5kg of meal as well, it’s an expensive system.

“We have a few local farmers that are probably not as intensive as ourselves, have a lot of excess silage, we probably rely on them.”

“The year so far has been quite challenging, especially coming off such a real good year last year where grass growth stayed strong, it’s been polar opposite this year.

“The longer we stay feeding silage, the more into your fodder you’re eating. We are tight on a good year, never mind on a year like this. We are hoping we get that burst of growth, and you will be able to build farm covers to some extent.

“I would like to see an increase in milk price, we would never say no. Looking at price trackers, I think Carbery are in a strong position, compared to the rest of suppliers nationally."

Barry Bateman, Bandon, Co Cork

“I’ve done a lot of springs, and this year was one of the worst of them. We moved into good conditions then, April, May, June, things were going well, and then of course we hit the dry period.

“The cows themselves have performed well, it has been quite a good milking year, but a lot of work in it compared to most years. I have had to supplement feed. We went from two kilos in the parlour to four kilos.

“We knew last autumn that the (milk) price was going to be poor, I think the price has been a little ahead of what I expected, obviously we would like a lot more, but I am comfortable with what prices we have got.”

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